Claiming that Sarah Ferguson comes from Basingstoke is pushing it: she grew up on the 876-acre family farm at Dummer, safely south of the M3, gentility's bulwark against the town which sprawls along the motorway's north side.

The towns sprawled out of control, while rural mediocrity fed on itself.

Along with the traffic, a city sprawling in all directions and surrounded by mountains, pollution is visible everyday.